


Earth Traditions

by MapleBreeze



Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Party, Earth Traditions, Eli introduces Krel to earth customs ;), Gen, Hanukkah, M/M, Mistletoe, holiday party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:48:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22030558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MapleBreeze/pseuds/MapleBreeze
Summary: Krel and Aja are invited to a holiday party at the Lake house and learn many new things about humans and their customs. And Krel learns something special about a certain kind of plant around this time of year, with Eli's help...
Relationships: Aja Tarron & Krel Tarron, Eli Pepperjack & Krel Tarron, Eli Pepperjack/Krel Tarron, Steve Palchuk/Aja Tarron, Toby Domzalski & Jim Lake Jr. & Claire Nuñez
Comments: 4
Kudos: 88





	Earth Traditions

**Author's Note:**

> Yes it is days after Christmas but I still really wanted to write this  
> Hope y'all are still in the holiday mood, I guess it's still Hanukkah anyway though
> 
> Enjoy some Kreli!
> 
> Also in this, everyone knows about the aliens and trolls and everyone is alive and there in Arcadia and not a troll *cough* Jim *cough*

This was, without a doubt, the strangest party Krel had ever been to. There were lights covering the outer shell of the house and colorful strings of shiny plastic hung in arcs along the tops of the walls. There was even a tree in the house, a tree in the house! _This planet is so weird._

Krel had come with Aja to a holiday party, a kind of human celebration, at the boy with the metal suit’s home. Varvatos stayed behind claiming he should guard the mothership but they knew there was more. Last week at the park, they heard him invite Nancy to dinner. And they certainly did not want to stay for that, so Krel ended up here.

After all, it wasn’t so bad. He had grown to like these humans, despite it all seeming so strange. Still, their whole journey felt like it should have been a dream and he would wake in his room on Akiridion 5 and be able to hug Mama and Papa again. But for now, they would just have to enjoy what was here. Krel felt he had been doing a pretty good job at that lately despite his initial disdain.

He discovered he enjoyed Earth music and had fun messing around with its (still primitive) tech. And he and Aja found out Arcadia was considerably more interesting with its other nonhuman inhabitants. And they had actually found some good human friends, _like Eli_.

Eli was there at the party, along with Toby, and others from school like the metal suit boy, Jim and his friend Claire. Well, those two looked to be more than that if their face touching was anything to go by. Mary and Darci were there and of course, Aja’s oaf boyfriend, Steve. Who was currently engaged in greeting his sister while she exclaimed “Lively!” as he showed her the lights and baubles decorating the tree.

So, he busied himself by examining the room and its occupants. The humans were mostly dressed in red and green sweaters with strange designs, such as old men, deer, and boxes. Eli wore a more different one that was blue, picturing a device with several lights on the end. But there were weirder things, such as the troll creatures that walked among the humans as if it was normal. Well, after the events of last summer, everything seemed normal. One of the trolls was large and green and seemed to have trouble fitting in the house, he was slurping a bundle of string lights like one slurps a noodle.

He saw one troll with a metal arm, that reminded him of Varvatos, come from the basement door to speak with the Lake boy, and he seemed equally confused as Krel about the party. And another small green creature he assumed was a troll was dancing in a diaper on the counter to cheery music.

Krel sat down on a couch in the corner of the living room. Eli must have noticed his confusion and walked over to him.

“That is Arrrgghhh, that’s Draal, and that’s NotEnrique.” Eli said gesturing to the various trolls.

“Why is he not Enrique?”

“Well, he’s the changeling replacement for Claire’s brother Enrique. But it’s a long story.” Eli paused and looked around once more. “That’s Dr. Lake, Jim’s mom and you know Mr. Strickler.” he continued pointing at the only human adults as they were pushed out of the kitchen by an increasingly frazzled Jim.

“Oh, and that’s Blinky.” Eli pointed to a blue troll with more eyes than Morando who also had four arms, _just like him_. _Well, not right now in his human form, but normally._

It felt nice to have someone who could explain these strange ‘holidays’. Aja was busy with Steve and didn’t know much more than he did about Earth customs anyways.

“What is with the glowing tree?” He asked Eli later. This sparked him running around explaining all the different decorations excitedly and then he got to his sweater and began attempting to explain human religions. For once Krel was content to listen.

And soon enough, Jim was done with his food-making and there was a feast laid out on the table, and it smelled very good actually, and didn’t taste too weird as far as human food went. It seems Jim was a good cook.

After that, everyone sat scattered in the living room, as the table in the kitchen was much too small for everyone. Then it began. The games, the jokes, the stories. All the kids, some trolls, and a couple of aliens brought together by the weirdness of this town, participating in human holidays, it was kind of incredible.

Jim, Claire, and Toby told stories of their trollhunting and Krel decided he needed to ask Eli later what ‘crispy’ meant, it was probably some sort of slang. Then it led into a short Mama Skull concert, which was the band Claire, Darci, and Mary formed. Their music was interesting to say the least.

Krel got caught up in the energy of the group as well and found himself laughing along with everyone else. They told more stories involving bad coffee and Eli and Steve reenacted how they became friends with a bag of flour.

After a while they ended up exchanging gifts. Jim gave something to a smiling Claire and the other kids slowly did the same. Krel realized he hadn’t brought anything and exchanged a look with Aja, but everyone understood anyway. He saw Steve handing Aja a small wrapped box and doing some other stupid couple stuff.

Not that Krel was jealous. _No, of course not_ , how could he be by watching their ridiculous affection. He was simply disgusted because it was his sister. It wasn’t that he wondered if Eli got him anything and looked at him hopefully across the couch.

As Krel looked now, he noticed seemed nervous. All the bravado from the talk of creepslayin with Steve gone. He sat folded in on himself and clutching something small in his hands, soon shoved unceremoniously into his pocket. Then he got up and disappeared into the hallway.

Krel wanted to see what was wrong with his friend so he followed him moments later. Eli left the living room and paced in the corner of the entryway near the back door before leaning against the wall by the basement door. Krel followed and walked over to him.

“Hey Eli, are you okay?” Krel asked, placing a hand on the other boy’s shoulder. Eli took something out of his pocket and handed it to Krel.

“Here, I got this for you.” It was a silver guitar pick with a little flying saucer on one side. Krel smiled at his friend’s thoughtfulness.

“Thanks Eli” he said as calmly as he could. Eli had actually thought of him. But Krel noticed the boy in question still looked a little nervous. Eli glanced up quickly and then back to his feet.

Then it all happened too fast. Eli placed his hands on Krel’s face and pulled him forward until their lips were touching. Krel’s heart soared.

They broke apart.

“Eli—” Krel began.

“It’s another holiday tradition” Eli hurriedly explained, blushing. He pointed to a plant hung from the ceiling. Its white berries glinted in the light. “That’s called mistletoe. If you’re under it with someone else, you’re supposed to kiss them.” He said. Krel’s face fell.

“So, it wasn’t because you like me?” He asked, clutching the guitar pick in his pocket.

“No no no, I do. It’s just… this was a backup plan in case--” He paused. “In case you didn’t feel the same.” Krel smiled.

“Well don’t worry, I do.” Eli returned Krel’s with an even brighter one. His face seemed to light and said a whispered cheer of ‘Yes!”

“And thank you for helping me out tonight, explaining everything.” Krel continued. “Your Earth traditions are so weird, but they’re not all bad.” He smiled again.

“I rather like this one.” Krel said, pulling Eli toward him back under the mistletoe.

Krel leaned into the kiss again. He wrapped hand around Eli’s back, relishing the moment. It just felt so right, even though they were from completely different worlds, galaxies apart.

Maybe they didn’t need to go home right away.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> This was my first fic for the Arcadiaverse, but I'll hopefully do more in the future
> 
> Also feel free to comment and give feedback


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